University of Arizona
Pac-12 Championships
Kibet, Tonnesen Earn Third-Place Finishes
05/17/2015 | Track and Field
Los Angeles, Calif. – The University of Arizona Wildcat men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the first day of competition Pac-12 Championships in Los Angeles, Calif. UCLA is hosting the meet on Saturday and Sunday at Drake Stadium. Competition resumes on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. MST. Catch three hours' worth of the best action from both weekends on Sunday, May 24 at 9 a.m. MST on Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Now. Both the men's and women's teams are in seventh place after the first day.
“It was a very exciting day,” head coach Fred Harvey said. “We came out and competed really hard and at the conference championships you really want to see that. As a team, the theme from the meeting last night, we want to get out here and work really hard. We want to compete hard like Wildcats and continue to get better. That is something I felt happened today. We had much more good than we had bad, we have a lot more point potential that I didn't count on which is a real positive thing going into the last day.”
Redshirt junior Pau Tonnesen earned a third-place finish in the men's pole vault competition with a personal-best clearance of 17-4.5 (5.30m). That is the ninth-best clearance in UA history. Tonnesen is the first Wildcat to score in the men's pole vault since Nick Mossberg in 2009. Tonnesen's mark is tied for 14th in the west region, meaning he will compete in the event at the NCAA West Preliminaries.
“One of the standout performances to me, was Pau coming back and take third place in the pole vault,” Harvey said. “That was huge, especially coming off a decathlon last week. I think that gives him that much more confidence as we go into the NCAA championships. If he can vault like that in the decathlon, we'll be sitting real pretty.”
Senior Elvin Kibet took third place in the women's 10K with a time of 34:04.97. Kibet scored for the UA women in the event in 2014 and in 2012 as well. Kibet will also run the 5,000-meter race on Sunday at 3:55 p.m. MST.
Junior Molly Callahan earned a sixth-place finish in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 10:27.83. That is the sixth-best time in UA history. She also solidified her spot in the event for the NCAA West Preliminaries.
Sophomore Aaron Castle earned a fourth-place finish in the men's shot put with a toss of 61-9.5 (18.83m). It is the second-straight year that Castle has scored for the UA men in the event.
In the women's 400-meter race, freshman Tatum Waggoner clocked a personal-best time of 53.82 and fellow freshman Diana Gajda also set a personal best at 53.87. Both of them made the final, finishing in eighth place and ninth place, respectively. Sophomore Jasper Gray also posted a personal-best time of 54.21 but did not advance. The final will take place on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. MST.
For the men's 400-meter sprint, all three Wildcats advanced to the final. Senior Pete Lauderdale II clocked the fastest time overall in the preliminary round, running a personal-best time of 46.28. Junior Blake Eichler took sixth place overall at 47.30 and sophomore Bryce Houston posted a personal-best time of 47.31 in seventh place. The final is set for 2:15 p.m. MST on Sunday.
For the women's 400-meter hurdles, all three Wildcats made it to the final on Sunday at 3:10 p.m. MST. Junior Nnenya Hailey clocked a time of 56.92, the second-best time of her career and good for third place overall. Junior Morgan Struble clocked a time of 60.21 and took eighth place overall. Freshman Tiana Bonds finished in ninth place with a personal-best time of 61.16. Sophomore Miles Parish's time of 52.49 for the men's 400-meter hurdles was good for fifth place overall and a spot in the final on Sunday at 3:20 p.m. MST.
Freshman Tyrell Johnson clocked a time of 10.56 in the men's 100-meter sprint, good for eighth place overall and a spot in Sunday's final at 2:35 p.m. MST. Sophomore Collins Kibet won heat two of the men's 800-meter run and automatically advanced to the final of the event on Sunday at 2:55 p.m. MST.
Junior Traci-Lynn Hicks clocked a time of 13.68 (+1.0 wind) in the 100-meter hurdles. That was the No. 3 time of her career, good for second place in heat one and fourth place overall. She earned a spot in Sunday's final set for 1:45 p.m. MST. Bonds clocked a time of 14.21 (+0.1 wind) and sophomore Alyssa Thompson ran the race in 14.89 (+0.1 wind), neither advanced to the final. Thompson also long jumped 19-4.25 (5.90m, -0.1 wind) and took seventh place overall.
Senior Daniel Whitham just missed scoring for the Wildcats in the men's hammer throw competition with a toss of 185-3 (56.46m). He finished in ninth place overall.
A complete recap and results will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after each day of competition. Also follow @ArizonaTrack on Twitter for live updates from the meet. Live results will be available at http://www.rtspt.com/events/pac12/track15/
